In order for farmers to effectively compete in the marketplace, efficient and inexpensive crop harvesting techniques must be employed. Accordingly, many farmers have turned to the use of mechanized harvesting equipment. Mechanized harvesters allow for the harvesting of vast tracts of land in a short period of time with only a few workers. Therefore, harvesting machines have the potential of greatly increasing the farmer's productivity.
However, the benefits of known mechanical harvesting machines are overshadowed by the problems encountered when such machines are used to harvest vinous crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers. With such crops, vines, rocks, and dirt often clog the chains of conventional chain-type conveyors. Accordingly, the apparatus must be periodically shutdown and cleared of vines, rocks, and other debris.
Another problem associated with the known mechanical harvesters is the large amount of unharvested fruit when the apparatus is used to harvest vinous crops. Typically, a substantial percentage of the fruits are inadequately separated from the vines. As a result, a sizable percentage of the otherwise useable crop yield is simply discarded along with the vines.
Yet another disadvantage of the known mechanical harvesters is that the known harvesters are prone to "dogging". "Dogging" occurs when the apparatus proceeds at an angle or canted to the direction of travel of the tractor which pulls it. The "dogging" tendency results from the tractor pulling the apparatus at a position other than the center of the apparatus so that the force vector applied by the tractor does not pass through the center of gravity of the apparatus.
Cucumbers, especially small size cucumbers, which are referred to in the trade as "pickles", have presented particular problems in mechanical harvesting. Heretofore it has been known to harvest cucumbers and pickles with apparatus utilizing snap rolls to remove the cucumbers and pickles from the growing vines. Snap rolls operate by applying a snap-like force to the rounded end of the pickle or cucumber fruit where it is attached to the vine, with this force tending to separate the pickle or cucumber from the growing vine. A particular problem associated with use of snap rolls is that the pickles and cucumbers, when ripe and desirably picked, are many times damaged in excessive numbers by the snap rolls. Additionally, the snap rolls are often times damaged by dirt and rocks which are entrained in the vine mass when the vine mass is cut from its growing roots. Hence machines utilizing snap rolls to separate cucumbers and pickles from their growing vines are prone to break down and require frequent repair in the growing fields, thereby disrupting the harvesting process.